The Vanguards
by T3rran
Summary: Trost. The battle where humanity fought a titan attack, and for the first time, pushed back the titans. The losses were high, but victory was achieved. Among the highest deathtoll, were those of the Vanguard. This is an untold story of a Vanguard squad, and their fight against the titan menace. The story of unsung heroes, who bought the time to save so many innocent lives.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **Been a long while since I wrote a new story, and this one just happened to be it! Please enjoy! If you want a playlist to go to with the story, look at the end Authors Note.

**Chapter 1: Vanguard Strike**

Victor halted on top of the roof, taking in the sight of Trost, and it's smoking buildings. The Titans reserved nothing to devour those unfortunate humans who could do nothing but run, or succumb to their gruesome death. He spared a glance at his squad mates, each having their own look of terror. Jacob, his best friend through all of training, watched with a look that screamed both hatred and horror, Victor could even hear a low growl through Jacobs gritted teeth. Claire, their quick addition to replace Victor's own brother, looked frozen in place from the sight. Max's eyes were glued to the titan that ate the small child, no doubt worrying about his own wife who was expecting any day now.

"We have to stop them!" Max shouted, "They're killing everyone! We can't let them get any further!"

"Stay calm!" Victor boomed, giving all in his squad a confident and calm look. "The area near the gate is lost. Anyone in there has little chance of living. Unless you want to face groups of titans?" There was a unanimous silence of agreement, but he could see Jacob still looking at the onslaught, apologizing silently. "We need to draw a line, and hold the titans. I vote here." Victor drew his sword, pointing to the other end of Trost, and traced an imaginary line to the other end. "Take them out, one at a time, and avoid the groups." Victor drew his other blade, giving the other three the bravest look he could muster, "Soldiers! We will hold this line!"

The three gave a salute, "Yes, sir!"

As a group, they moved in a diamond formation, Claire in the back, and Max and Jacob to his left and right, respectively. "Stay low!" Victor shouted, "Abnormals could be nearby!" Victor fired off his hooks, catapulting himself towards a lone titan, three meter class. He retracted his hooks, and slid right by, the titan watching him with its glassed over eyes, and it's lust for glutton. It started to lumber towards him, but neglected his squad. Max came flying by, and wrapped around its neck, and took his blades slicing directly into the neck for a clean kill. Victor watched the titan fall as Jacob and Claire shot forward over its falling corpse, towards a fifteen meter that rounded the corner, eyes locked on Jacob. "Shit! Jacob! No!" Victor took off towards them, expending extra gas to achieve even faster speeds.

At these high speeds, a humans vision can blur. Wind causing you to squint, and the velocity causing various stationary objects to come together as a mess of colors. However, Victor had trained for years on this. Focusing his eyes on target, he released his hooks, using the current momentum to fly by the titan. As the titan blur got closer, he flicked his body in a spin, and the slash resounded clearly, and the blood that splattered on his face was hot. There was no doubt he killed it. Perfect.

His landing was the opposite.

The spin threw him off, and instead of landing how he normally would, he landed backwards. He was able to skid effectively with the boots soles, but his right foot crashed into some building rubble. His body kept moving, and he tripped. He crashed into the ground, and started to tumble and roll, losing his grip on the left blade as it began flailing dangerously in all three dimensions. The confusion from the uncontrolled crashing only increased as the ground and sky began mixing their colors together, left and right became impossible to distinguish, up became down, down became up. Every single tumble, some part of himself was smashed into the ground, and before he could use the collision as a way to tell how he was orientated, he had already smashed into the ground with another part of himself.

After what felt like a few minutes, he stopped tumbling, and instead skid on his front to a stop. His blade didn't stop with him, however. It sped towards him, as if racing against an imaginary opponent. The sharp edge shallowly sliced into his forearm, and stopped at his wrist, settling in. He winced and seethed as blood started to flow. The warm liquid of his blood following gravity, and the hot blood of the titan evaporating off his clothes reminded him that this was still a combat situation. Adrenaline pumping, he removed the blade from his arm and shot himself up, any pain he was experiencing from the fall vanished once he was back on his feet. He checked his blades, and saw the one with his blood had snapped from the repeated beatings of the stone road he took a nasty trip down. The other was buried in the titan some distance far from him.

"Victor! Are you okay?" Jacob skidded to a stop, shaped like an eagle landing. Once to a safe speed, he ran towards Victor, finally noticing the wound, "Holy shit! You're bleeding!"

"It's minor." Victor lied. Underneath all that pain killing adrenaline was probably bruises waiting to show the world their purple and black colors. Plus, it was quite possible that he fractured his rib. He inspected the broken blade that had sliced into his arm, and the evaporating titan corpse it had assisted him in killing. The titan blood on the blade evaporating, his own blood dripping to the floor, giving a contrast to the grey stone he stood on.

Killing the titans... it felt good. A 15 meter was considered a menace to humanity, and he took one down. Not alone, but it was dead, venting steam as it died. The hot blood that was evaporating off him actually gave him a thrill, and it excited him in ways it shouldn't have. That was the blood of the enemy of mankind. He wore it as a stain, as titans should be known for. A stain on humanity. How could anyone fear these things? They were easy prey. He chuckled, hatred sinking in. His brother died to these? His brother was not weak. He was strong, just as good as Victor, maybe even better. How did the Colossal manage to kill him? Maybe that one was special? More special than an aberant? He kept laughing. Every time he thought about killing the titans, he laughed a bit, unable to stop. They could hold the titans off. They might not regain Trost, but they could save the civilians. Titans were no threat, not to him, or his squad. Humanity would be victorious this time.

"Victor? You alright?" Jacob patted Victors back, "You took quite the tumble..."

With a nod, Victor jettisoned his broken blade and pulled another. "Fine," he answered. "Just... laughing at how close that was," he lied. He grabbed Jacob's shoulder, giving him a friendly shake, "Be more careful, Jacob. That could have been a lot worse for all of us."

"Right... will do." Jacob gave him a nod, and Victor released his grip on him. Jacob started to run off, but paused, "I'm going ahead with Claire, I think Max has something to bandage that arm up with."

Those were Jacobs last words to Victor as he took off towards a nearby building rooftop, meeting up with Claire and together they took off. Turning around, he saw Max zoom up to him, landing slower than Jacob did. "Victor!" He shouted, pulling out a bandage roll. "Lemme patch that arm up."

Victor took his jacket off, and ripped the forearm of his undershirt off. The wound was clearly bleeding still, and dried blood around his arm was smeared from the shirt. Holding the wounded arm out, Max started patching him up. "We should probably hurry. Titans could be here any second, and I don't have a good view from down here."

"Right. I'll go fast." Max replied, bandaging fast, and rather roughly. Victor winced once or twice, but before he could get a single word off to be gentler, Max was done. "I'm going ahead to backup Jacob and the new girl." He answered.

Victor shook his head, "No, you wont." Victor pointed to the bandages Max had, "Get those into a pack, we will probably be running into wounded soldiers or civilians." Victor nodded towards a destroyed building behind them, "I grew up in Trost, and that was a medical clinic. There should be a satchel in there you can use, and more supplies."

"Yes, sir." Max turned and jogged into the building.

With Max getting supplies, and Jacob and Claire clearing the way, everyone was performing to standard. The squad under his command easily had this area covered, but the other Garrison soldiers who came with them were spread out, and possibly injured. He didn't want to split his squad, but Max's medical knowledge couldn't be ignored. He also didn't want to pull his squad from the line. The civilians still needed to evacuate... command hadn't launched the all clear flare. Victor groaned to himself, debating the next plan of action once they cleared this area out. Putting his jacket back on, he took off towards where Jacob and Claire were.

As he came over the wall, he saw Jacob squirming in the hand of a titan, swinging his blades and just barely scrapping the titan that had its grip around him, and Claire unconscious some number of yards away. "Jacob!" Victor took off from the roof, heading for the Titan that was looking at Jacob with the eyes of never ending hunger. Victor came perfectly across the neck with his blade, and the titan dragged Jacob to the ground. Victor landed safely some ten meters away.

Victor turned around, looking for any sign of his friend. The titan fell the wrong way, and fell forward, where Jacob was being held. His heart raced and time seemed to stop for a second as the titan fell. Then, much to his relief, Jacob rolled out of the titans hand, albeit roughly. Jacob was still in one piece. Victor smiled. His friend was okay.

**AN: **What did you all think? Let me know in a review, and don't forget to critique.

Victor's theme: Armored Titan Theme

Attack ON titan, Rittai Kidou, Reluctant Heroes.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N****: Here is chapter 2. Playlist at the bottom.**

**Chapter 2: Iced**

Max scurried through the building like the mouse looking for cheese before the cat wakes up. Victor was right, this definitely was a medical clinic, there were even pain killers they could use for those who lost limbs. He gathered all the stuff he could, neatly putting it into a hand-sewn medical satchel. No doubt the handiwork of a loving wife.

The thought gave him a small smile. He was out here because of his own wife, and his kid that was expected any day now. They didn't live in Trost, and he thanked whatever divine being that still watched over them in these dark years. She was behind wall Sina, with his mother in law, probably in labor now... he sighed. He wanted to see her again. She was the only reason he fought. She gave him a new meaning to life after his family died.

What was it... five years ago when Wall Maria fell? His parents, being doctors, did their yearly trip to Wall Maria as charity service. As fate would have it, that was the same day the wall was broken by the Colossal Titan and Armored Titan. They died in the initial attack. He joined the military afterwards, hatred for all titans, and a death wish. He told all his friends he was going to the Survey Corps when he got done.

"You will be a corpse!" They told him, "There has to be something to live for here!"

There really wasn't, and he joined. During training, he met his wife. Named after the outer wall, Maria. She talked to him, shared her life with him, and whenever he got the chance, he snuck out of training to see her. Before he knew it, he was in love with her, and planned to marry her. However, his goal of Survey Corps hadn't changed. So, she gave him an ultimatum, her, or the Survey Corps. Since he was in the Garrison, his choice was obvious.

He couldn't leave her, and in the Garrison, he could protect her.

He shook his head with a smile, "What am I doing... my squad needs me." With everything packed neatly for transport, he slung the bag over his shoulder and jogged out of the building, looking around for where they could've gone. To his right, smoking buildings and a lot of titans wandering, to his left, Trost HQ and supply building. Did they retreat? Surely not, Victor would've stopped by to grab him in the retreat... unless Victor was killed?

Impossible. Victor killed a titan already, and skillfully set up a second for Max to destroy. Doubtful he was dead.

A blood curdling scream from Jacob assaulted his ears, giving away at least one members position. That could've meant a multiple of things, but if Max had to take a guess, he was either hurt, dying, or saw someone die. Any combination of the three was bad. Max shot himself up to the roof, scanning over the scene. Except, he didn't see Jacob hurt. Jacob was fine. However, he was on his knees, a free hand reaching out, and he was frozen... was he crying? What happened? He found that Claire was behind him, on all fours, but alive. What could've happened? Wait... no...

Max turned his head, praying he was wrong, but his eyes did not lie to him when he saw the fifteen meter with the bloody foot, and two blades sticking through the sole of its foot.

No way... he thought. Those were soldiers blades...

He trailed his eyes down to where the foot had been, and saw a dead soldier. There was no way it was Victor. Victor was too good to go out like that... Victor was too good to go out at all. The body was crushed into the stone, its blood traveling through the spaces in between, internals blown in a disorderly fashion and scattered around. His body resembling a popped balloon with skin instead of rubber. From his distance, he could see the faintest sign of a grin on his face from where he stood...

There was a bandage crushed with the arm it was bound to.

Victor was dead... their fearless leader. Crushed, and the titan... it only took notice of the blades stuck inside its foot. Not even comprehending that the man he killed was his friend, and their leader. The heartless bastard! That-

Another realization dawned on him that silenced any rage that may have started to boil in his blood. Victors corpse could have been him. He looked back at their lifeless leader, seeing himself splattered and destroyed instead.. dead to the world. To his wife... his kid...

His blood ran through his body ice cold, sharp edges stabbing and cutting his heart every beat as it slowed with the cold blood running through his body.

What would his unborn baby have done without him, had he been in Victor's stead? If Victor had let him help Jacob, he would've been where Victor laid now. A lifeless corpse popped open with internals spread like a messy plate of spaghetti. His wife... she would never see him again. His kid would never know its father.

His heartbeat came to a stop, and the next beat rang in his ears louder than Jacobs screams of agony. Max began to tremble with the cold fear running in his veins. He couldn't do that to Maria. He couldn't leave her in this world alone. He had to make it back to her alive. These titans were powerful, what chance did he have if he fought them? Especially now that Victor had fallen? How could he leave his family like Victor left his squad to be pigs to the slaughter? How could he die before starting his family? His kid needed a father! He wanted to see his child! He wanted to see his son or daughter grow up, he wanted to be there for both of them! He had to be! How could he leave them in this world alone?!

Max's tremble turned into a quake of terror. He jettisoned his blades in fear of cutting himself, and looked down at Jacob, who remained statue-still in disbelief at the sight of Victors corpse with the screams that Max still could not hear over his deafening heartbeat. The screams of despair did not vanish as the titan picked out the blades from its foot, and stepped on Victor without a single care in its savagery. The titan advanced towards Jacob, the nineteen year old soldier who Max trained with, sweat, and bled with. The titan was oblivious to Max. Max could kill it easily. Jacob turned his head, the tear stains clearly visible on his cheeks as his eyes begged for Max to avenge Victor.

Make the titan pay... they pleaded. Kill it. For Victor. For my -our- friend, and our leader.

But all Max could see was his own kid looking at pictures of him. His wife, crying her eyes out just like Jacob did for Victor. Her never ending tears when the military reported Max's death to her. He couldn't break her heart like that. If his death would leave her so devastated... he couldn't die. There was no cause worth dying for if it left his beloved in such a state.

And he knew the titans would kill him if he stayed to fight. He would die.

With tears starting to stream down his cheeks, his eyes blurred as he closed them. His wife needed him to be alive. And he wanted his kid to know him... its father. Not an empty tombstone that caused its mother to weep. Not a picture and a frame. He opened his eyes again, seeing Jacob reach out for him, and the titan advanced further onto Jacob. Behind it, a few smaller titans. Max looked back at Jacob his shout filled with the sounds of sorrow, "Max! Help us!"

Max's heartbeat drowned out the shout to where it sounded like it was miles away. His friend needed him. His friend needed him. Now, more than ever. Max drew new blades, making his move to kill the titan.

His wife flashed into his mind again. He wanted to be with her more than anything, and his leg that started his courageous assault froze before it could even leave the ground. His mind would not let his heart do what was right.

Max began crying, he couldn't move towards the battle anymore... he couldn't move towards the titan to save Jacob and Claire. "I'm so sorry..." He sobbed under his breath, "I'm so, so sorry, Jacob..." He sheathed his blades, and took the cowardly foot a step back.

A/N: Max's theme: Call your name

towards the later part of the chapter: Vogel im Kafig.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I would like to thank the reviewer** JustACityKid**, for giving this story it's first review! Also, _**THIS CHAPTER IS A BIT GRAPHIC, AND USES A LOT OF STRONG LANGUAGE.**_Viewer Discretion is advised (but if you've already seen the anime/read the manga, the only part that may get you is the Graphical part.)

**Chapter 3: Defeated and Torn Apart**

Jacob watched in horror as Max turned his back, and leaped behind the building. His cry for help fell on deaf ears...

Max abandoned them. The titans ahead were advancing, and Max abandoned HIM! He abandoned Claire! He disgraced Victor, and he ran, like a bloody fucking coward! "Max!" He shouted, now burning with rage and hatred for the titans, and the added betrayal of Max. Jacob got up, his blades drawn and in hand as the fifteen meter approached. The same one that stepped on Victor. He screamed as loud as his voice would allow and more, "'I'll fucking KILL YOU!" He swung his blades in fury, a futile attempt at striking fear into a fearless opponent, "I'll fucking kill you all! I'll kill every last god damned one of you!" Jacob prepared to fire his hooks pointing the right hand blade at the titan, "And I'll start with you!" He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened except a useless click from the trigger. He kept clicking, his anger swelling with each useless squeeze.

He looked at his gear, noticing the right side was crushed in, and his left sides gas had a gaping hole in the canister, no doubt already vented. He scowled, and looked back at the titan, "I don't need that damned gear to kill you!" He looked up at it, the titan smiled down. "Yeah, you'll be smiling as I tear open your god damn neck! You'll be smiling alright!" His eyes started to burn with the tears of hatred, "You think I give a fuck that you're taller?! You killed Victor! You killed my best friend! And I will make DAMN SURE you pay!"

Jacob swung his blades as it approached, and when the titans shadow blotted out the sky, he screamed again, "Pick me up! Go on! Fucking do it! I'll use your own god damn body as my maneuver gear!" The titan started to reach down, but before it could grab him, he was yanked by someone, out of harms way, and in the opposite direction of the titan.

"Let me go!" He screamed, "I'm going to kill that mother fucker!" He used his left sword, and jettisoned the blade at the titan. It landed very short, and only pissed him off more, "I'll kill it, god damn it! Let me kill it!" He screamed, "That fucker killed Victor! He killed my best friend! Let me kill it!"

He and whoever saved him crashed into a rooftop some distance away. Jacob wasted no time in looking up, burning a hole in the titan as it stood still for a second grinning... that taunting grin no doubt directed at Jacob. It would've been laughing if it could. Then, it relocated away from him. Jacob and whoever he was with no longer priority.

Jacob had lost. He lost his best friend, he lost his gear, he lost to the titan. He reached out, eyes still locked on to the titan. "Come back here!" He shouted, his anger subsiding as realization and despair started to overcome him. There was nothing he could do. He could not chase it, and it would not follow after him. "Come back..." He started sobbing again as the titan moved behind a building and out of sight. "You can't... get away with that..." His strength left his limbs as all his power went straight into crying, and he collasped on the roof, "God damnit... Victor..." he sobbed, and punched the roof, anger mixing back in with his grief and despair, "GOD DAMNIT!" He paused to sob, then smashed his hand onto the roof again, "SHIT! WHY? WHY?" With each repeat of why, he slammed his fist into the roof, neglecting the blood that was starting to come out. He screamed, throwing his body back, "VICTOR!" He swung his empty blade in a fit of anguish.

A pair of feminine hands started to lift him up, but before they could get him off his knees, he threw them away, "Get away from me, you bitch!" He screamed, getting up on his own in a hurry, and taking a few steps away as his strength flowed with a burning sensation from his fiery heart. He looked up at the owner of the hands. Claire. She was speechless, and Jacob looked away from her, not only embarrassed she had witnessed his foul attitude and crying, but to keep from punching her. She did nothing wrong... she saved his life. She was an ally... but she tore him away from the titan that killed Victor.

"Um..." She looked around, "Where's Max?" she asked.

"Dead." Jacob answered. Max was dead to him, and if Jacob ever found that coward, Max would be dead to everyone. "He's dead."

Claire nodded, and observed the surroundings, "We've lost... haven't we?"

Jacob looked around them, and finally noticed just how far the titans had actually advanced. Their line was broken before Victor had even died. "We..." he looked around, seeing titans everywhere, some filling their stomachs with unfortunate soldiers and a few straggler civilians who were either trapped, or just not fit to run. "We failed..." Jacob shook his head. The sounds of what should have been battle was instead screams and begs for mercy, "How could we let this happen..." He paused his defeated attitude, and image of Victor flashed, and he shook his head again. "No..." he corrected, "We haven't lost, damn it." He looked back at HQ, watching a few soldiers make a mad dash back to it. They weren't alone out here. There were more soldiers. They could regroup, and they could reorganize. There was still a fighting chance. He could avenge Victor... and he grinned to himself, perhaps he could be the one to lead the troops to Victory, in Victor's place.

Jacob turned to face Claire, mustering the most leader-sounding voice he could, "We need to resupply, and get me new gear." He spat out what saliva he had accumulated while crying, and wiped his nose. He pointed to the soldiers retreating, and furrowed his brows. "This fight isn't over. It's not even close to over. I refuse to lie down and die." Jacob looked at his gear, and frowned. "But I can't fight like this."

"Jacob..." Claire answered, "I don't think we should. Your gear is busted, you wouldn't go very fast... an aberant could get you and you'd end up like Vic-"

"I know." He answered, making sure he couldn't hear the name of his friend. "I know the risk, Claire." He took out his gas tank that was busted, and threw it, aiming where the titan that had eaten Victor went, then started to remove his good tank to be placed into his working gear. "But we need to get to HQ. If we stay here, we're dead."

"Your gear-"

"Claire!" He shouted, the sound of gas hissing as his gear was ready to go.. or good enough. "It's all we can do right now. Unless you want to be eaten by a mob of titans?" She hung her head with no objections remaining to his plan. Jacob tested his single hook, it fired successfully, and it tugged him to a nearby roof. Granted, it wasn't as fast, and his landing was more along the lines of a crash. The fact remained that his gear worked enough to get him back to HQ. He shouted back at Claire on the roof he was just on, "Let's get moving, or would you rather die out here, alone? Because I'm going, regardless of what you say."

She shook her head, and shot past him with her gear. Jacob was in tow, but alas, it wasn't too long before he lost sight of Claire. His speed wasn't enough to keep him up with her, and it was such an awkward flight pattern... being pulled diagonally instead of straight, wobbling in an unbalanced fashion. He was able to glide distances, and that was a huge saving grace. It kept him from having to strain his body so he wouldn't crash into a building.

The HQ was getting larger, and his goals nearly within reach. The day would be humanities... and revenge would be his. He would lead a reorganized assault on the titans, and become a hero... much like Victor should have. And, lest he forget, Victor's killer would be dead by his own hand, with his blades stuck into its neck. That smiling titan would not be able to escape him once he got his gear fixed. "Just you wait..." He muttered, "Just you fucking wait."

A titan leaped, at him. Aberant. Jacob caught sight of it as it was on course for him. He squeezed the trigger as tight as he could, ejecting gas to try and speed past. There was a sharp yank as it knocked him off balance and detached his hook that immediately started swinging dangerously with no real pattern. The hard jerk sent him into an uncontrollable tumble. He was alive, though. Fortune smiled on him that much, at least. He wasn't out of the woods, yet, though. He had an out of control spin as gravity started taking him down to the ground. He needed to stop spinning, and get his hook back into something.

He tried firing his hook, but nothing happened. Did the titan break his good gear?! If it did, Jacob was in deep shit. To make matters worse, he couldn't stop his spin. His legs weren't responding to his attempts to balance out, and nothing he did with his arms stabilized his fall. What had happened when the titan leaped at him? Why was nothing working?! He needed to check his gear, maybe-

Looking down at his waist, his eyes widened in shock as his heart started to pound loudly against his chest cavity. When he looked down, he didn't see his legs, or his Gear. In their place, he saw his stomach and intestines flapping freely in the wind as a trail of blood traced his fall. Where did his... how? Where did his legs go? What happened?!

He knew the answer to all of them: Titan.

The titan had consumed his gear, and his waist. There was nothing he could do, and even though he knew this, he prayed just maybe he could click his gear, and he was just seeing things... but nothing happened. There was no way to balance himself, no way to land safely... not that he could anyway. His lower half wasn't there, even with his gear he'd, probably die without his legs on impact.

How had the titan managed it... how did... why... why him? To what purpose? He had to kill that damned monster that crushed Victor...

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. This wasn't in his plans of avenging Victor, and leading humanity to victory... he wasn't supposed to die.

Gravity brought him past the rooftops on a collision course with the stone road. He heard a crack from his neck, and in his dying moment, he saw the sky.

The beautiful, blue sky.

**A/N: **As usual, I have some music to share for the chapter (which are in chronological order, and so as not to spoil the chapter, try to give them "names" of what is happening when they should play.) Also, I would appreciate a review, for the few who've read this all the way through. Of course, I will not be holding this story ransom, but would just like to see what people think of the story, and what could be improved.

Jacobs Theme: Attack ON Titan (0:00-2:04)

Max's Betrayal: Vogel im Kafig (The part that plays at Eren's mothers death scene.)

Retreat and Regroup: Reluctant Heroes

An Unfit End: XL-TT

There is one more chapter to go! So don't think this is the end.


End file.
